Bernstein: Risking Cutler's Health Was Reckless And Stupid
By Dan Bernstein--
Getting away with something is not evidence that it was a good idea.
There are times in the life of every thoughtful person when we look back at a decision to take a risk of some kind, and think "Well, that probably wasn't too smart. I'm pretty lucky to have avoided some awful consequences, and I'm not going to make that same mistake again."
Lovie Smith's personal version of a "Jackass" stunt – letting Jay Cutler get sacked six times by a motivated Green Bay defense – did not end the Bears' title hopes, but it could have.
A battered Cutler was asked afterward how he felt being out there after the final time he was driven into the Lambeau Field turf, and he said, "In my mind, I was like, well, maybe we should rethink this."
He was joking. Ha ha.
It's all funny today because he did not suffer his second concussion of the season, a twisted knee or a sprained shoulder. A Bears team that has faced the likes of Drew Stanton, Tyler Thigpen and Joe Webb should know better than others how easy it is to have their most important player removed in a blink of random football violence.
Yesterday was not the time to spin the wheel of fortune over and over again, especially with nothing whatsoever to gain. Unless, perhaps, the Todd Collins performance against Carolina has your appetite whetted for more on a bigger stage.
Or, if you're Smith, and you're headed into a likely lame-duck contract year, you try to rack up meatball points with the lowest common denominator of fans and media by pandering to the myths of rivalry and game-to-game NFL momentum.
Certainly, this logic could be extended to argue against the participation of Julius Peppers, Brian Urlacher, Matt Forte and others in a game immediately dismissed as meaningless as soon as it concluded. You'll notice I'm stopping short of that, though it is logical.
"If you want Cutler handled with kid gloves, you big sissy, why not all of them, huh? Aren't they football players? Players are paid to play! (Chomps bratwurst, belches, high-fives lookalike friend)
Players paid to play also get hurt all the time, particularly sitting-duck NFL quarterbacks. And when one so valuable is poorly protected against a repeatedly-successful pass rush, and seven-step drops continue to be called, someone has to grab the coach and ask him what he could possibly be thinking by letting this continue.
The Bears are the same team now as they were before the ball was kicked. They have the same strengths, the same weaknesses, and are no more or less likely to win the Super Bowl. Neither yesterday's performance nor result changed anything.
The theme of this season has been the Bears' good fortune. From the opening-day TD that wasn't, to injured key opponents each week, to a snow-collapsed dome, this has been a year in which everything has seemed to fall their way at every turn.
Yesterday, escaping Green Bay with Jay Cutler still functioning after a rash decision to test fate, Lovie Smith just had his luckiest day yet.
